Wednesday, November 28, 2012

I Love Criminal Minds, But . . .

Is it odd that Criminal Minds has my absolute favorite cast of all shows on TV but I'm about to give up watching it?

I've been a fan from the beginning. I've seen every episode multiple times (except for the two-parter where the guy had a split personality and let his dogs rip a woman to shreds - I refused to watch it a second time). I think David Rossi is the sexiest guy on TV, I adore Spencer and JJ, and I bow at the temple of Garcia. (I even wrote a secondary character who was a thinly-veiled take on Garcia.) I like Prentiss and Hotch and don't even want to smack Morgan more than once an episode.

But  enough is enough, or I guess I should say too much.

Too much violence. Too much gore. Too much graphic ickiness. When a show makes me queasy, when the storylines routinely make my stomach hurt, it's time to change the channel.

It seems people are bored with regular bad guys, so TV shows/movies/authors have had to kick it up a notch. The villains can't just be murderers, rapists or terrorists anymore; they have to remove body parts, skin their victims, torture them brutally. The ick/discomfort factor has gone through the roof.

And so, Criminal Minds, much as it pains me to say it, you're off my must-see list. I'll continue the practice I started at the beginning of the season: I'll watch the first few minutes, but at the first sign of gratuitous, graphic violence, the first torture or dismembered body, I'm switching to PBS.

4 comments:

  1. Hmmm, must be something wrong with me. You can't get too gory for me when you're talking about serial killers. That's how I get my scare on.

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    1. You've definitely got a tougher stomach than me, Jackie! When the torture or dismemberment starts, I get queasy. I like psychological thrillers. For me, it's enough to know that there's a psycho whack job out there murdering women. I don't need to see the blood-and-guts and violence to be scared.

      I'm just a wiener!

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  2. The show seemed to mimic Dexter too much. At that time of night, I just am not ready over-gore. I'll watch one of my stupid reality TV shows that put me to sleep.

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    1. I think that's why Family Guy and South Park are on at the same time as Criminal Minds here! We need an alternative!

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